Bicolour Blennies breeding, need help please!

[zgenius]

My bicolour blennies have layed eggs atleast 3 times now in the last 2 months or so and I would like to take the plunge and try to rear them. I have read alot about breeding other fish but I cant seem to find any info on breeding bicolour blennies on this site or any other.

They have been laying them in a koralia 1 that was shut off in my display tank so it can be easily removed to my other fish less 30 gal tank. But I cant really see any eyes on the eggs to know when to take them out. After about 2 weeks or so the eggs disapear and I am sure no one else is eating the eggs.

They are both wild caught and from what I have read there is no documentation of these fish being breed in captivity so any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated and I would be more than glad to make a log and share any info with everyone.

Thanks in advance for any help

 

["Umm fish?"]

I haven't tried breeding blennies yet, though eventually..., but I'd advise you to get this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Illu...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220133861&sr=8-1

He has a long section on blennies.

 

[zgenius]

breaking news

breaking news

So I was watching tv and noticed that my clown fish which are in the same tanks as the blennies were eating at some particals is the water.
At further investigation I saw that they were what looked like larve. They had eyes and were swimming around. They all gathered at the top of my tank for some reason there were hundreds of them, so I scouped out a cup of the water and there were 50 or so in it and took it to the fish store and it was confirmed they were fish.

So I raced back home to skim them all out into a 10 gal tank and much to my displeasure they all dissappeared. Where could they have gone I dont think it was possible for them all to be eaten. Also what would make them come back up to the top again so I can grab them?

I also noticed both my blennies got alot more aggressive in the last 2 days.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

["Umm fish?"]

Hey, congratulations! You are doing lots of things right. After all, you've had fish spawn and they only spawn when they are happy and well-fed.

The larvae from your recent hatch were likely all eaten, which was why you couldn't find any when you got back home. Mmmm, babies are good food! Likely their parents joined in all the snacking.

Larvae are attacted to light, especially right after they hatch. So, that's how you'll get them to the top of your tank. But if you get too much light they'll try to get away from it, so you have to walk a line there.

If you want to try to raise them I'd really advise getting the book above.

Good luck!!

 

[zgenius]

Thanks for the help and kind words.
I managed to save the batch that I took to the fish store. I put them in a 10 gallon tank with about 5 gallons of water, and air curtain hose thingy to make some flow and oxygen, with 2 incandesent lights. I threw in about 10 or so capfulls of DT's phyto, so the water is now green.

How long should I keep the lights on for?
Do i need a heater?
How much and how often should I add phyto.?
10% water changes how often?
Anything else I am missing?

 

[zgenius]

Anyone?

 

[MYDRAAL]

My somewhat experience only comes from clowns but I would try some live food, add more phyto when water starts to clear, if you're larvae tank needs a heater to keep temp than of course you'll need a heater,watch your ammonia and do water changes as needed( try not to the first couple of days), and have you been able to get any books that are blennie specific because you may not get the info you need here. Sorry I can't help more(as if I did :rolleye1: ) but GL ,and let us know how it goes.

 

["Umm fish?"]

The greenwater is probably essential to raise blennies, but they are also going to need food and lots of it. Rotifers, copepods, etc. At the top of the fish breeding forum is a sticky about food that's really got a lot of good information.

 

[zgenius]

Thanks everyone

I have been tring to find rotifiers in Toronto but no luck yet, howerver I did find golden pearls. Are these at all recomended, I read alot of mixed results on using them for larve. Or what about frozen rots?

Also I have read that the salinity needs to be around 1.021 or 1.020 for the rotifiers to survive. My tank is about 1.025 so my question is when do I bring down the salinity in my larve tank with out shocking the larve? Or is there another procedure that works better?

Thanks again guys

 

["Umm fish?"]

Well, at this point it's probably best to wait for the next nest. Get your rotifers going well in the meantime and you'll be ready. I doubt the golden pearls or frozen rots will work, but what do you have to lose trying them? If you try to use non-live food keep an eye on your water quality, maybe an ammonia alert badge. Not a bad idea even with live food.

I wouldn't worry about the salinity too much. If you want to lower it after the fry have hatched, do it _really_ slowly (a drop at a time). More what you need to worry about first is getting food for the fry.

 

[zgenius]

Ok so my rotifers culture is going good, but my blennies threw a curveball at me. They laid eggs last friday on the back top of my koralia, than on tuesday they laid an equal amount of eggs on the back bottem of my koralia and now again today they laid more eggs on the inner side walls too.

So it seems they are laying eggs every 4 days. I was planning on taking the koralia out and putting it in my larve tank but I'm not so sure that is the best thing to do now.

I can see silver eyes on most of the first batch so I'm pretty sure tonight should be hatch night. On the other hand the last batch that hatched were found in the afternoon.

Just when I thought I had it figured out, I get all these different variables thrown my way, which I cant seem to find any other info on.

Also assuming all goes well and they hatch can I just pour in the rotifers water and all or do I have to seive them and just add the rotifer and no water?

Thanks again for any help or oppinions.

Ps I try to get some more pics